Masked (A Hat In Time)

Twining Roots, Budding Relationships

Here we are again, folks! Back here at Masked, the angst is still growing!

This oneshot will focus on Karmin and some of her goals- something we might've seen in Shadow Rift if Hattie would've confronted her at the end of the Alpine arc. I'll have a much later oneshot going into depth of her backstory, but don't expect to see that for a while.

"But what's Karmin doing in Masked?" you might be asking.

Karmin is more of an all-rounder AHiT OC. She could easily fit in with the base game without making major story changes or extensions, unlike the other OCs in Masked. Therefore, she can fit in anything that has the base game Alpine lore.

Her presence in Masked is canon, but this oneshot isn't. Karmin has special personal lore because of the worldbuilding here that won't be found in other AUs.

Without further ado, let's start :)

Oneshot status: Not canon

Set: A month after the main events of the fic

Length: 15k words

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The prince spent more time than usual wandering around Subcon nowadays. By now, he'd learned the layout of the forest and the placement of Snatcher's traps. The latter he had to learn the hard way, but he did learn.

The scenery was peaceful. Even though he was filled to the brim with anguish about what had happened to Subcon Kingdom, he still appreciated the forest. Even if it had its dangers and even if it was gloomy and tragic, he found an odd beauty in the quiet.

Prince never dwelled too long on it, though. His thoughts would always turn back to how he wasn't actually the prince. He was just some fake...

Today he'd ventured farther out than he had before. Prince usually avoided the outskirts of the forest. Here, where the trees were thinner, was where he first arrived in Subcon. When Moonjumper had sent him here, with his strings reaching into his mind and directing his movements.

Prince really didn't like to think about that either.

But here he was, in the clearing. If he looked up, he could distantly see the moon's glow through the branches above. It was the only part of the forest where the moon was visible, minus on top of the massive tree Snatcher made a home out of.

He knew there was an end to the trees where the forest bordered the fields of Halcyon. Prince was close by, even if he didn't know the exact location. He had no idea whether he was treading close or not.

Prince stood and paused for a moment. He knew his way back, thanks to his multiple ventures in the forest. He wasn't bothered by how far he'd wandered from the forest's center. Knowing the layout of Subcon would be lovely. If he knew how to make maps, that would be a project he'd want to take on- a map of Subcon. Maybe then he'd be at least a little useful.

Snap!

Prince tensed at the cracking of a twig somewhere behind him. The forest was never silent, but he'd been attacked by enough spiders to know by now what an approaching creature sounded like. Every time he'd luckily been found by one of the ghosts, kids, or Ichor, and the spider was scared away. But now he was doubting his luck; he'd gone deep into the forest without telling anyone.

Slowly, he turned and got a glimpse of color as it darted behind a tree.

"Hello?" he called. Was one of the kids playing a prank on him? They loved giving him lighthearted scares all the time and were often successful.